Lindy Hop offers:
• great health benefits
• a remarkable social interaction experience
• an inclusive activity for families and individuals
• a new skill set you have FUN constantly refining
• it's all ages - Denver's dancers range from 10 to 80
About Me
Therefore, I focus my classes on teaching movements that can be lead and followed by dancers NOT in my classes. I couple that with stressing the importance of maintaining a good
I believe this gives me necessary first-hand feedback on the effectiveness of my teaching methods. I love teaching and would like the opportunity to show you the magic of Lindy Hop. Click here for my teaching schedule.
You can reach me via email at david@eightcountmagic.com or by filling in the form below to send me a message.
In the late 1920s and the 1930s, at the end of many performances, all of the musicians, singers, and dancers would get together on stage and do one last routine: the shim sham. Tap dancers would perform technical variations, while singers and musicians would shuffle along as they were able.
The Shim Sham is 10 phrases of choreography (each phrase lasting four 8-counts), so it does not usually take up an entire song. After the Shim Sham was over, the dancers then would exit either stage left or right, depending on what was agreed upon for that show.
Today in the Lindy Hop scene, once the Shim Sham choreography is over, dancers typically grab a partner and break into lindy hop for the remainder of the song. During this portion of the song, the band or a DJ may call out "Freeze!" or "Slow!" instructing the dancers to either stop where they are or dance slowly, then call out "Dance!" to tell everyone to resumes normal dancing.
The Frankie Manning version adds a Boogie Back/Boogie Forward phrase and Boogie Back/Shorty George phrase to the end of the basic choreography, then repeats the basic choreography before the Lindy break -- but in repeating adds a pause or break at the end of each 8-beat phrase/dance move. Only after the repeats are ended do the dancers break into free Lindy Hop with swing-outs.
The Shim Sham is 10 phrases of choreography (each phrase lasting four 8-counts), so it does not usually take up an entire song. After the Shim Sham was over, the dancers then would exit either stage left or right, depending on what was agreed upon for that show.
Today in the Lindy Hop scene, once the Shim Sham choreography is over, dancers typically grab a partner and break into lindy hop for the remainder of the song. During this portion of the song, the band or a DJ may call out "Freeze!" or "Slow!" instructing the dancers to either stop where they are or dance slowly, then call out "Dance!" to tell everyone to resumes normal dancing.
The Frankie Manning version adds a Boogie Back/Boogie Forward phrase and Boogie Back/Shorty George phrase to the end of the basic choreography, then repeats the basic choreography before the Lindy break -- but in repeating adds a pause or break at the end of each 8-beat phrase/dance move. Only after the repeats are ended do the dancers break into free Lindy Hop with swing-outs.
This video features John Dokes and Denise See. There are several reasons I like this video.
First, the musicality John displays while dancing. It's not just because he's familar with the song, he inspires his partner to respond to what he does.
Secondly, is the fact that I've known John for 15 years and didn't discover he was a Lindy Hopper until 2004, when I was looking for videos for this website.
I met John when I lived in New York and worked for DC Comics, the company that publishes Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman Comics. John worked for DC's' 'rival' Marvel Comics, the publisher of Spider-Man, Captain America and the Fantastic Four and we met on the convention circuit.
When we met, we weren't dancers.
I left New York in 1999, returning to Denver and here I discovered Lindy Hop. I haven't asked John for the specific details, but I believe he also started Lindy Hopping about the same time.
John is more than a dancer, though. He's a very accomplished singer and the featured lead singer with George Gee and his 10pc. Jump, Jivin’ Wailers. If you're in New York you HAVE to check them out.
First, the musicality John displays while dancing. It's not just because he's familar with the song, he inspires his partner to respond to what he does.
Secondly, is the fact that I've known John for 15 years and didn't discover he was a Lindy Hopper until 2004, when I was looking for videos for this website.
I met John when I lived in New York and worked for DC Comics, the company that publishes Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman Comics. John worked for DC's' 'rival' Marvel Comics, the publisher of Spider-Man, Captain America and the Fantastic Four and we met on the convention circuit.
When we met, we weren't dancers.
I left New York in 1999, returning to Denver and here I discovered Lindy Hop. I haven't asked John for the specific details, but I believe he also started Lindy Hopping about the same time.
John is more than a dancer, though. He's a very accomplished singer and the featured lead singer with George Gee and his 10pc. Jump, Jivin’ Wailers. If you're in New York you HAVE to check them out.
Born in Miami Florida in 1921, George grew up with other future swing stars such as Panama Francis and George Kelly. He moved to New York in 1940 and two years later joined the service. He won two Lindy competitions when he was in France and returned to the New York area where he choreographed USO shows. After demobilisation he settled down to become a Savoy regular, joining the famous Tuesday night 400 Club and carried on dancing at the Savoy until it closed in 1958.
He never got round to entering the Harvest Moon Ball until the Savoy was about to close. He competed with his partner Barbara Bates (she weighed 105 pounds) in 1957 and 1958 and they did 13 air steps in 3 minutes. When they didn't win for the second year, George said he'd never enter again. But in 1983, he met Margaret Batiuchok (featured in this video with George), and six months later they entered the Harvest Moon Ball. They didn't practice or do any aerials, just strictly floor work and won! (They were the first interracial couple to win, and most likely the first to enter; the following year the Lindy portion was dropped from the Harvest Moon Ball.)
He never got round to entering the Harvest Moon Ball until the Savoy was about to close. He competed with his partner Barbara Bates (she weighed 105 pounds) in 1957 and 1958 and they did 13 air steps in 3 minutes. When they didn't win for the second year, George said he'd never enter again. But in 1983, he met Margaret Batiuchok (featured in this video with George), and six months later they entered the Harvest Moon Ball. They didn't practice or do any aerials, just strictly floor work and won! (They were the first interracial couple to win, and most likely the first to enter; the following year the Lindy portion was dropped from the Harvest Moon Ball.)
Click an arrow to watch a video.
Lindy Hop has to be good for you,
you can't help but smile while doing it!
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Once comfortable with the basics, you decide what level you want to take your dancing to — you can stick with the basics and become an accomplished social dancer or you can embellish your dancing with aerial movements and work towards competing.
You can learn dances like Balboa, Blues and Shag, as well as the line dances like the Shim Sham, the Big Apple, and the Jitterbug Stroll — are all a part of the swing dancing you'll see at every one of metro Denver's FIVE nights of dancing EVERY week.
And talk about affordable — the most 'expensive' night of dancing is less than going out to a movie — it's a social activity cheaper than renting from NetFlix.
As a beginning dancer, few things can compare with that rapturous feeling you have the first time you dance through an entire song!! Do yourself a favor: Get off the couch — you already own everything you'll need — and meet me on the dance floor.
Lindy Hop was so named after Charles Lindbergh's flight to Paris in 1927, when the newspaper headline read: "LINDY HOPS THE ATLANTIC". The dance has no "hop" in it. On the contrary, it is smooth and solid, and while there is a constant rhythmic 8-count "pulse" that you feel in your bones, there is no hopping, bopping, or prancing in the dance.
Lindy Hop, also known as Jitterbug, is the authentic Afro-Euro-American Swing dance. It is an unabashedly joyful dance, with a solid, flowing style that closely reflects its music -- from the late 20's hot Jazz to the early 40's Big Bands. Just as Jazz combines European and African musical origins, Lindy Hop draws on African and European dance traditions. The embracing hold, and the turns from Europe, the breakaway and solid, earthy body posture from Africa. The dance evolved along with the new swing music, based on earlier dances such as the Charleston and the Black Bottom, by black people in Harlem.
Lindy Hop is a social dance. Partners are connected smoothly and gently to each other, while relating closely to the music, in feeling, improvisation and phrasing. The core tempo range is 120-180 beats per minute.
Films such as Hellzapoppin and Day at the Races, as well as Malcolm X and Swingkids show seemingly reckless airsteps (aerials), often done at very fast musical tempos. Far from being just acrobatic antics, airsteps are in fact smooth, extremely precise, and perfectly in synch with the music. They require a superb degree of expertise and are not danced socially, but only for performance, if only inside a protective ring of spectators, as in the Cats' Corner jams at the Savoy Ballroom. Airsteps are impressive and spectacular, so that's what you see in the movies!
Savoy style Lindy Hop, as taught by Frankie Manning and Steven Mitchell, has the lightest, gentlest, and smoothest connection of all the common Swing dances! It is solid, low, relaxed and energetic.
Just as Swinging Jazz music feels very different from, say, Rockabilly music, Lindy Hop feels very different from other dances, such as West Coast Swing, East Coast Swing, Jive, and Rock'N'Roll-Jitterbug, especially in posture, partner connection, and musical connection.
Lindy Hop is a Jazz dance. Jazz is dancing music. Swing is Jazz music.
History © and courtesy of http://dancing.org/
Lindy Hop, also known as Jitterbug, is the authentic Afro-Euro-American Swing dance. It is an unabashedly joyful dance, with a solid, flowing style that closely reflects its music -- from the late 20's hot Jazz to the early 40's Big Bands. Just as Jazz combines European and African musical origins, Lindy Hop draws on African and European dance traditions. The embracing hold, and the turns from Europe, the breakaway and solid, earthy body posture from Africa. The dance evolved along with the new swing music, based on earlier dances such as the Charleston and the Black Bottom, by black people in Harlem.Films such as Hellzapoppin and Day at the Races, as well as Malcolm X and Swingkids show seemingly reckless airsteps (aerials), often done at very fast musical tempos. Far from being just acrobatic antics, airsteps are in fact smooth, extremely precise, and perfectly in synch with the music. They require a superb degree of expertise and are not danced socially, but only for performance, if only inside a protective ring of spectators, as in the Cats' Corner jams at the Savoy Ballroom. Airsteps are impressive and spectacular, so that's what you see in the movies!
Savoy style Lindy Hop, as taught by Frankie Manning and Steven Mitchell, has the lightest, gentlest, and smoothest connection of all the common Swing dances! It is solid, low, relaxed and energetic.
Just as Swinging Jazz music feels very different from, say, Rockabilly music, Lindy Hop feels very different from other dances, such as West Coast Swing, East Coast Swing, Jive, and Rock'N'Roll-Jitterbug, especially in posture, partner connection, and musical connection.
Lindy Hop is a Jazz dance. Jazz is dancing music. Swing is Jazz music.
History © and courtesy of http://dancing.org/
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